Coated phonograph-stylus and other article.



E. A summon COATED PHONOGRAPH STYLUS AND OTHER ARTICLE. APPLICATION FILEDYFEB. 25,1915.

' 1,162,285. V I Patented Nov. 30; 1915.

j UNITED STATES" PATENT ornion ENG'ELHABDT.A. ECKHARDT, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

COATED PHONOGRAPH-STYLUS AND OTHER ARTICLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

Continuation of application Serial No. 867,955, filed October 22, 1914. This application filed February 25,

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, ENGELHARDT A. ECK- HARDT, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have inventednewand useful Coated Phonograph-Styli and other Articles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention resides in articles of iron, steel or other metal, or combination of metal or alloy having a coating of metal, or combination'of metals, or alloy, alloyed therewith, for the purpose of making the point, edge, surface or the Whole mass of such articles hard, hard and abrasive, wear withstanding, or having other desirable 'proper ties. s

More particularly my invention relates to such an article having such a coating of tungsten, chromium, cobalt, molybdenum,

' etc., or an alloy of any of these with another metal, or an alloy of one of'these with one or more of the others mentioned.

My invention resides in a stylus or needle for use in making phonographic sound records, or for reproducing sounds from sound records. Such a stylus consists preferably of a metallic stylus or needle having at its point and vicinity thereof a coating of tungsten, or tungsten alloyed with the metal of a needle or stylus. Such a stylus or needle" is very hard, harder than tungsten itself, and successfully withstands Wear and lasts many timeslonger than the ordinary stylus which, as well known, serves for reproducing from. a relatively small amount of sound record and must then be replaced by a new needle. A stylus or needle of the character herein described I have found will serve to reproduce from a very great number of average sized records without any substantial. wear; And such a stylus or needle is inexpensive because of thevery small amount of tungsten or tungsten alloy or other metal required and from the fur: ther fact that the process of making the same is simple and inexpensive.

My invention resides also in of-making the articles described.

The accompanying drawing illustrates a the process mode of carrying out my invention.

In the drawing, 4 represents aphonograph stylus or needle havlng the pointed end 5.:

It is shown connected by a conductor with' the negative terminal of the source of cur- Serial No. 10,585.

' rent 3, preferably a source of direct current,

as a storage battery or dynamo-electric generator whose positiveterminal is connected through the adjustable resistance 2 with the positive electrode 1 of tungsten, tungsten alloy, or other suitable material, as molybdenum, cobalt, chromium, etc., or an alloy of any one of these, or an alloy of any one of them with any other or others of them.

The operator touches the point 5 of the stylus 4 to the electrode 1 and upon withdrawing it slightly from the member 1 anarc. will be struck between the point 5 of the stylus and the electrode 1. During the'existence of this are vapor of the metal 1 will be transmitted through the arc and be deposited upon the point 5 where the tungsten,

tungsten alloy or other material referred to forms a coating upon the point 5. This coating consists of an alloy of the tungsten or other deposited metal with the metal of the stylus, which is generally of iron or steel. During the manipulation the stylus may be turned in suitable directions to cause the arc to strike all those parts of the surfac which it is desired shall be coated.

ment is a stylus or needle, or any other artiole, which will have a coating which gives to the article desirable qualities and characteristics. phonograph stylus there'will be formed a tungsten or other alloy of iron or steel at In the case of an iron or steel the point of the stylus, giving it great wearwvithstanding properties, such an alloy being very hard indeed. And with styli or phonograph needles which'I- have so treated the hardness is such that 'it resists the action of any good file, though it will be understood that my invention is not limited to su'chdegree of hardness. And with a stylus so treated I have found 'it is useful in reproducing sounds from sound records to vbe very many times longer than the life of the ordinary untreated stylus.

ingor otherwise forming it to desired shape.

Besides phonograph styli other previously shaped articles may be similarly treated to provide a hard wear-withstanding point, edge or surface.- For example, the points of pens may be so treated, in which case the pen replaces the stylus 4' in the electric circuit. Or in place of the stylus 4 inthe electric circuit may be placed a drill, or a chisel, and by practising the process the cutting edge of the drill or the chisel may con-.

sist of such a hard wear-withstanding alloy or coat. Or the tube and stylus of stylegraphic pensmay be so treated to render them wear-withstanding and non-eorroding.

While tungsten steel is well known and is knownto have great hardness, it is a material which is very difficult to operate upon or Work and it would be a relatively expen sive stylus, chisel, pen, drill, or other article which would be made in its entirety or largely of tungsten steel. By my process, however, the article may be made of ordinary steel commonly used forsuch articles, and then locally treated with a coat of tungsten or alloy to give it the desired hardness, wearing or other qualities.

It will be understood that for the electrode 1 may be substituted an electrode of carbon, in which case the tungsten or other material to be applied to the article may be thrustinto the are between the two electrodes and there be vaporized and carried by the arc to the article to be treated.

Where the article to be treated is of iron the electrode 1 may be of carbon and with the result that carbon is transferred to the iron which may be converted locally or on its surface to steel. .And this steel may then be alloyed with tungsten or other suitable material transmitted through the are after the carbon treatment, or simultaneously by inserting in the are between the carbon and iron electrodes the tungsten or other ma- "terial. And it will be understood that in the case of a phonograph stylus as well as the other articles referred to, when of steel, that they may be tempered before the coating or alloying process; or they may be tempered after such process.

In the appended claims the term .iron is generic and includes steel as a specific form of iron.

This application is a continuation ofmy co pending application Serial Number 867,955, filed October 22, 1914.

What I claim is:

1. An article having a body of iron having a hard wear-withstanding coat consisting of a refractoryinetal alloyed on theiron body.

2. An article having a steel body having a hard wear-withstanding coat comprising tungsten alloyed on the steel body.

3. A phonograph stylus having a metallic body having a hard wear-withstanding coat of iron and tungsten alloy.

at. A phonograph stylus having a body portion and a hard wear-withstanding point consisting of a coat of an alloy of a refractory metal which can be tempered.

5. A phonograph stylus having at or near its point a hard coating formed of refractory metal alloyed with the stylus material. (3. A metallic article having a hard wear withstanding alloy coating formed by a refractory metal combined with the metal of the article.

7. A phonograph stylus having a polished point having a coating of refractory material alloyed with the stylus material.

8. An article having a body of steel having a hard wear-withstanding coat consisting of a refractory metal alloyed on the steel body.

9. An article having an iron body having a local admixture of carbon, and a coat comprising a refractory metal alloyed with said iron containing carbon.

10. An iron article having a hard alloy coating formed by a refractory metal combined with the metal of the article.

11. A steel article having a hard, wearwithstanding alloy coating of steel and tungsten.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto afiixed my signature in the presence of the two subscribing witnesses.

ENGELHARDT A. ECKHARDT. lVitnesses I NELLIE FIELD,

ALICE S. MAnsir. 

